Thinking the farther north and west you are, the less likely to encounter clouds and/or haze to decrease the drama. We'll be taking my daughter to college in OH and driving either from or to CO, so either I-80 in NE or I-70 in MO (totality covers its ENTIRE LENGTH in MO) are a good bet. It'll be around 1 PM CT... are PM thunderstorms a good bet in MO? NE tends to dry out a lot in August.